Norton explains positions on issues
By MIKE STARK
Of The Gazette Staff
The Powder River Basin will be an important source of natural gas in coming years but development shouldn’t overrun local landowners, Secretary of Interior Gale Norton said Wednesday.
“We’ve taken a strict line that the energy producer needs to work with the surface landowner. We want the companies and the ranchers to be talking and planning for each individual ranch,” Norton said. “If they don’t have that dialogue and reach that agreement, then we will force the company to post a bond.”
The basin, along with shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, will help meet growing national demand for natural gas and keep jobs from moving overseas, Norton said.
In a telephone interview Wednesday afternoon, Norton also discussed wolves in Wyoming – saying that the Interior Department has been consistently clear about its stance with state officials – and the uncertain future of snowmobiling in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
She declined to comment on specific elements involved with snowmobile lawsuits in federal courts in Washington, D.C., and Wyoming, including a claim by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan that the Bush administration’s plan appeared to be “completely politically driven.”
“I can’t respond to anything in the court’s ruling,” Norton said.
The administration’s rule, which overturned a previous ban on the machines, was intended to “provide families with an opportunity for recreation and to enjoy Yellowstone in the winter” while still protecting wildlife and other resources, she said.
“Our regulation is an attempt to find a happy medium,” she said.
But the new rules have become mired in litigation, with a Washington, D.C., judge considering a finding of contempt of court against the Interior Department for not following his order to reinstate the ban, and a Wyoming judge temporarily restraining the Park Service from carrying out the ban.
Norton wouldn’t say whether she was disappointed in how the snowmobile issue has turned out this year, but said the Interior Department will respond to allegations that it violated Sullivan’s order when, after the Wyoming judge’s decision, the Park Service raised the maximum daily limit of snowmobiles.
“We are filing documents with the courts to explain our legal position,” she said.
Norton offered no forecast for resolution of the issue.
“We’ll just have to see what happens with the courts,” Norton said.
The wolf question
Norton also responded to allegations by Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal that the Interior Department sent “mixed messages” to state officials over its proposal to manage wolves once the federal government removes the animal from the endangered species list.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently rejected Wyoming’s plan for several reasons, including a provision that allows some wolves to be shot on sight. Freudenthal said some Interior officials, before that ruling, said that provision was acceptable.
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Norton said her office reviewed the correspondence between Interior and the state in 2003 and 2004 and found that the message had been clear that Interior never approved the predator classification.
“We looked at it and our message seems to be consistent,” Norton said.
She said she’s encouraged by recent efforts in the Wyoming Legislature to craft a new wolf management plan.
“It’s clear to me that finding an acceptable Wyoming management plan will result in delisting much more quickly than litigation,” Norton said.
Norton did, however, deflect questions about whether the federal government would provide funding to states when they take over management of wolves.
The energy front
As for energy development in Wyoming and Montana, Norton said 2003 was a strong year and 2004 could be strong as well if natural gas prices continue to improve.
Last year, more than $1 billion was distributed to 36 states for their share of federal mineral revenues.
Wyoming ranked first in revenue collection with $503 million. The energy production payments, raised by development on federal lands, will be used for schools, highways and roads, the state’s general budget and allocations to cities and towns.
Montana received $26 million, mostly from coal production, which will go toward schools, higher education, cities and counties, and human services.
“Overall, the states have received 46 percent more this year than last year,” Norton said. “It has fluctuated primarily on prices of natural gas.”
The outlook for natural gas in 2004 looks good, she said.
“The long-term trend is that natural gas prices are going to continue to increase,” she said, but production is not growing as fast as demand. “It’s important to remember that natural gas is the fuel of choice for new power plants because it is clean-burning.”
The Bush administration’s overall energy plan is a comprehensive approach that focuses on conservation, renewable sources and traditional sources, Norton said. Innovation will be key in the long run, but the short term will require a variety of energy sources, including coalbed methane from the Powder River Basin, Norton said.
The federal government is trying to streamline the regulatory process to speed up production, including consolidating the analysis of applications by studying groups of wells that are close together and not single wells, she said.
Although steps will be taken to access “extensive potential” for natural gas in Montana, Norton said, the government will not pursue gas opportunities beneath wilderness areas.
“We have no plans to change the wilderness status. We respect that those areas will remain locked up. That’s appropriate,” Norton said.
As for coalbed methane, Norton said cooperation between companies and surface landowners will be needed to limit the effects of development. Some steps might include “common sense things” like reclaiming the land, putting pipelines beneath roads and painting tanks to blend in with the landscape, she said.
“There are a number of things we can do so that coalbed natural gas is done in an environmentally responsible way,” she said.